PicksInSix Review: The Da Vinci Code-Drury Lane Theatre

High Tech ‘Da Vinci Code’ in Oakbrook
PicksInSix® Review | Ed Tracy

The midwest regional premiere of “The Da Vinci Code” opened Thursday at Drury Lane Theatre in Oakbrook, directed by Elizabeth Margolius and starring Jeff Parker, Yaneh Assadourian and Bradley Armacost in the suspense thriller based on Dan Brown’s 2003 international bestseller.

The adaptation by Rachel Wagstaff and Duncan Abel closely follows the events that unfold after authorities discover that a prominent museum curator, Jacques Saunière (Ray Frewen) is found murdered in the Louvre and an equally prominent American symbologist, Professor Robert Langdon (Parker), is brought in to help sort out the cryptic references and religious clues at the scene of the crime. Forming an alliance with Sophie Neveu (Assadourian), a cryptologist who is Saunière’s granddaughter, the two join with Sir Leigh Teabing (Armacost) to sort through the mystery. The action then races forward while everyone is avoiding the authorities, led by Bezu Fache (Anthony Irons), and a criminal mastermind called “The Teacher” who has recruited the deranged assassin Silas (Shane Kenyon) to do his bidding.

If you are still with me and curious about how all this plays out, Drury Lane’s immersive treatment of “The Da Vinci Code” is just the show for you. No guesswork here. The play is hinged tightly to the book and 2006 film starring Tom Hanks. The film, of course, had the benefit of stunning locales from the streets of modern day Paris to monasteries and cathedrals dating to the middle ages. The stage production debuted in 2022 at the Bromley Churchill Theatre before touring in the United Kingdom. The American premiere was staged at the Ogunquit Playhouse in Maine, prior to the Drury Lane run.

It’s a very stylized show relying heavily on projections and live action video with dense text that comes at you like water blasting from a firehose. Parker, Assadourian and Armacost are first rate performers whose characters feel like they are trapped on every page of the well-known story. There are reams of exposition in the first act, so if the story is familiar to you, you may have a leg up, but it all may feel too familiar. If this is your first time with the material, you had better giddy-up or it will run you over.

Judging from the audience reaction, many departed with an entirely different perception. For me, the pace felt rushed and the ritualistic movement was distracting. Overall, the action lacked the foundation necessary to build and sustain suspense. I thought more than once that these fine actors and the high production values deserved a more intimate setting to capture the nuance of the material more effectively. Do we have to see shadows moving in slow motion to create a macabre flashback? Is urgency created simply by briskly running off stage to hop a plane to the next destination?

These are all choices, of course. There are many elements of Margolius’s production that will captivate you, however, in its present state, “The Da Vinci Code” appears to still be sorting itself out with its high-tech imagery often falling short in the shock and awe department.

PHOTO|Brett Beiner

Drury Lane Thaatre
presents
The Da Vinci Code
100 Drury Lane
Oakbrook Terrace, IL

through June 1, 2025

WEBSITE

For more reviews, visit: Theatre In Chicago

ARCHIVE

PicksInSix® is a registered trademark of Roxbury Road Creative, LLC

PicksInSix Review: Titanic The Musical - Marriott Theatre

Marriott’s ‘Titanic’ – A Stunning Musical Odyssey!
PicksInSix® Gold Review | Ed Tracy

It will be 40 years this September that Dr. Robert Ballard’s expedition team discovered the solemn remains of the RMS Titanic resting on the ocean floor 2 1/2 miles below the surface. To anyone over 50 years old, the exact details of the tragedy was up to that point one of the great mysteries of our time.

James Cameron’s 1997 blockbuster film incorporated the haunting images of the underwater tomb for the 1,517 victims of the tragedy. New theories emerged, testing firsthand accounts of survivors captured at the time and questioning the catastrophic collision with the iceberg that led to the sinking of the ship in the early hours of April 15, 1912.

The Broadway production that would receive five 1997 Tony Awards—Best Musical, Book, Original Score, Scenic Design and Orchestrations—was a ship of dreams all by itself. When “Titanic The Musical” arrived on Broadway, I had two memorable opportunities to see the fascinating multi-level set design and ingenious hydraulic system to replicate the inevitable outcome. But it was the impassioned personal stories in Peter Stone’s superb book and the resounding lyrics and melodic score by Maury Yeston that I recall most of all. These are true-to-life representations of the crew and passengers—a reflection of the class structure of the era —woven together with fictionalized composite accounts of the disaster as it unfolded.

The size and scope of the show posed major challenges for touring and regional productions. Over the years that followed, “Titanic The Musical” spawned concert and chamber performances around the world. A 2012 critically-acclaimed ensemble version—produced in Chicago by Griffin Theatre with orchestrations for six musicians by Ian Weinberger, a Northwestern alum—emerged with a cast of twenty playing multiple roles.

It is this version of “Titanic The Musical” that opened at Marriott Theatre on Wednesday, expertly directed and choreographed by Connor Gallagher with a matchless Chicago-based ensemble featuring top stage veterans and exceptionally talented newcomers to the Lincolnshire venue.  

At the center of the story is the contentious relationship between Titanic’s Captain E.J. Smith (David Girolmo) and White Star’s owner J. Bruce Ismay (Adam Pelty), who is constantly pressuring Smith and Titanic designer and builder Thomas Andrews (Christopher Kale Jones) on the ship’s performance. Their confrontation in “The Blame” is a highlight, and Jones gives one of the most powerful performances of the night in “Mr. Andrews’ Vision.”

Individual stories that illuminate the class distinctions on the Titanic are 1st Class passengers Ida (Heidi Kettenring) and Isidor Straus (Mark David Kaplan), Madeline (Victoria Okafor) and John Jacob Astor (Joel Gelman); 2nd Class passengers Kate Murphey (Laura Guley), Kate Mullins (Victoria Okafor), and Kate McGowan (Erica Stephan) whose relationship with Jim Farrell (Garrett Lutz) is a tender storyline richly told. Lillian Castello’s delightful Alice Beane, who aspires to be included among the 1st Class passengers, is matched in earnest by her husband, Edgar played by James Earl Jones II. Darian Goulding is terrific in the role of Frederick Barrett.

Among other stellar featured performances are Second Officer Lightoller (Gelman), Harold Bride (a spirited turn for Matthew Hommel), Third Officer Herbert Pittman/Etches (Kevin Webb), First Officer Murdoch (George Keating), Frederick Fleet (Lucas Thompson), Charlotte Cardoza (Kelli Harrington), Charles Clarke (Will Lidke), Caroline Neville (Francesca Mehrotra) and the Bellboy (Eric Amundson).  

Music Director Ryan T. Nelson and conductor/keyboardist Brad Haak with musicians Heather Boehm, Loretta Gillespie, Lewis Rawlinson, Trevor Jones and Andy Wilmouth are on the mark with the exceptional score. The show plays out on an exquisitely detailed, multi-tiered Collette Pollard set that shifts effortlessly from forward to aft, 1st Class to 3rd, and all points in between with a minimum of embellishments, an extraordinary feat within the confines of Marriott’s in-the-round configuration. Add Sully Ratke’s sensational costumes, the evocative lighting by Jesse Klug, and, sound design by Michael Daly, and Marriott’s “Titanic The Musical” becomes a stunning musical odyssey.

PHOTO|Justin Barbin Photography

Marriott Theatre
presents
Titanic The Musical
10 Marriott Dr
Lincolnshire, IL
through June 1, 2025

WEBSITE

TICKETS

For more reviews, visit: Theatre In Chicago

ARCHIVE

PicksInSix® is a registered trademark of Roxbury Road Creative, LLC

PicksInSix Review: Henry Johnson-Relentless Theatre Group-Victory Gardens Theater

“Why would you ever trust anyone?”
PicksInSix® Review | Ed Tracy

The Chicago premiere of David Mamet’s new play “Henry Johnson” opened Sunday in a matinee performance at Victory Gardens Theater presented in association with Relentless Theatre Group. The play was first performed in 2023 at the Electric Lodge in Venice, California starring Shia LaBeouf as Gene—played here by Thomas Gibson from Criminal Minds and Dharma and Greg—who is also in Mamet’s film version that is scheduled to be released in early May. So, the Victory Gardens/Relentless production is a unique confluence of the two treatments at this particular time.

In a curtain speech, director Edward Torres welcomed a near capacity crowd back to the theater which has been dark, with the exception of a few special and limited run events, since March 2023. Torres was upbeat about the future, citing plans to reinvigorate the programming of the theater, now celebrating its 50th anniversary, and by extension, launching a renewed investment in the performing arts in the North Lincoln Avenue neighborhood. In addition to thanking donors, sponsors and three board members in attendance, Torres warmly acknowledged Dennis Začek who has for decades been a steward of the artistic vision of the Tony award-winning regional theatre. Začek is serving as Executive Producer and no doubt used his finely-honed skills to help assemble the stellar production team and cast for the show including: Gibson, Keith Kupferer, Al’Jaleel McGhee and Daniil Krimer.

“Henry Johnson” plays out in four scenes over roughly 100 minutes including one 20 minute intermission. Henry (Krimer) appears first in an office with his boss, Mr. Barnes (McGhee) who is pressing him about his relationship with a man who has plead to manslaughter in a brutally savage attack. Barnes seems to know a lot more about Henry’s business  and we soon discover that Henry is a man easily influenced and, ultimately, will be facing prosecution himself on multiple related criminal charges.

Time passes and in scene two, Henry’s arrives in prison, sharing a cell with Gene (Gibson), a hardened criminal who knows the ropes. Gibson owns the sticky, often malevolent, center of Mamet’s text here and his is the most compelling performance of the show. Passing through the cell block is a guard, Jerry (Kupferer), who delivers books from the prison library and Gibson tells him that Henry would be a good addition to the library staff. When we next see Henry in the library during the third scene, Gene continues to aggressively groom the hapless man to carry out a plot that leads to the harrowing confrontation that follows.

Unquestionably, the cast is fascinating to watch throughout the course of this drama, even though there are elements of dramatic tension that seem to be stifled by both scene breaks and the intermission. Upon reflection, one of the most interesting developments of the story occurs during the interval, but perhaps the story was not the point all along. Krimer’s Henry plays out as a metaphor for manipulation, coercion and fear—by his boss in the interrogation, by his cellmate in devising the plan, and, in the final scene following the plan’s execution. These are powerful dramatic forces that Mamet has at work, magnified by the presence of audience members on stage left and right that shrink the playing space to be more in line with an isolated prison cell—a physical uneasiness that washes over the audience at every turn.

Hopefully, this all is a harbinger of what is to come for Victory Gardens, emerging from a dark period of great uncertainty to regain the trust and prominence in the Chicago theatre community as a leading incubator for new work. It will take time. Productions like Mamet’s “Henry Johnson” force us to recognize our own fears and vulnerabilities. If we ignore these influences and allow them to cloud our judgement, there can be only one possible outcome: there will be nothing left to save. You have until May 4 to decide for yourself.   

PHOTO | Michael Brosilow

Relentless Theatre Group
in association with
Victory Gardens Theater
present
Chicago Premiere
Henry Johnson
2433 N Lincoln Ave
through May 4

WEBSITE

PROGRAM

For more reviews, visit: Theatre In Chicago

ARCHIVE

PicksInSix® is a registered trademark of Roxbury Road Creative, LLC

PicksInSix Review: Translations - Writers Theatre

‘Translations’—The Magic of Language Itself.
PicksInSix® Review | Ronald Keaton

It would be very easy to see “Translations,” the thick, challenging classic by the great Irish playwright Brian Friel, as a treatise about endless attacks on Irish colonialism.  After all, British soldiers travel from town to town and literally change the names of where people live to make them conform with English culture and language—by force, if necessary. And in many ways, this is true. But, as the elegant production at Writers Theatre in Glencoe that opened Friday shows in no uncertain terms, the real story here is about the magic of language itself. Writers Artistic Director Braden Abraham has deftly followed the brushstrokes of the master Mr. Friel in creating this entire world of contradiction and mystery.

This was a period—Ireland in the 1830s, a delicate time historically, if such a word can be used for the Irish—that sat roughly a decade out from the vaunted potato famine, which would kill more than a million people and uprooted many more by some estimates. In order to create a seeming conformity in the Isles, these British soldiers helped establish the first National Schools, which encouraged literacy but provided classes only in English, and thus prohibited the speaking of Irish/Gaelic, which greatly contributed to its decline. This battle focuses on three characters— Hugh, a highly regarded teacher who speaks fluent Greek and Latin; his son Owen, who becomes a kind of interpreter for the soldiers, while caught between them and his love for his native land; and Yolland, a soldier who also maps the countryside and eventually falls for a young lass, rendering him, well, a bit lost in translation himself.

Hugh (the marvelous, rock-solid Kevin Gudahl) teaches adults in this hedge-school, which was illegal and furtive in its existence because of the Anglican stance on who should know what. One easily imagines a kind of drunken philosopher here, as Hugh imparts what wisdom and history he can in eloquent phrases and between lifts of his flask. He believes that the world is affected not by the facts of history, but by how we view those facts—an outlook not totally lost on our world today. But he’s practical as well; he sees with disdain what’s ahead in the coming loss of his own tongue.

His son Owen (Casey Hoekstra as an appealing spirit of not-so-torn allegiance) is a knowledgeable, almost gifted translator between English and Irish, taking to his task with a fervor that rivals the soldiers themselves in its passion. Owen drives the play forward with that fervency and commitment. His brother Manus (Andrew Mueller, persuasively gentler in outlook and demeanor than Owen) attempts to hold down the linguistic fort in wanting to preserve all native language and education, all while remaining in his father’s shadow. Mr. Mueller’s departure from Ballybeg at the top of Act II is absolutely riveting.

There really is all manner of great character work here, a Writers Theatre stamp. Jimmy Jack (a fabulous turn by Jonathan Weir) is a wizened old soul of letters who regularly waxes poetic about his admiration for the gods and goddesses of mythology, often in Greek or Latin. The lovers Lieutenant Yolland (a deeply affected young soldier given wonderful and painful shrift by Eric Hellman) and the comely girl Maire (Tyler Meredith is lovely and quite effective) have the ultimate hill to climb; they cannot communicate on a practical level, because they literally speak different languages. Yet a love emerges. And this plays out achingly, thanks to a chilling moment that Ms. Meredith handles with aplomb.

The almost elfin mute Sarah (Julia Rowley, convincing in an extremely difficult role) finds it hard to even articulate her own name. Gregory Linington valiantly takes on his Captain Lancey, who could have been a thankless taskmaster were it not for the actor’s inherent skill. Doalty (Ian Maryfield) and Bridget (Chloe Baldwin) are both young adult students at Hugh’s school.  They have a constantly energetic and fun exchange whenever they appear. And all this is contained on a set that seems a combination classroom/apartment/lean-to ingeniously offered by Andrew Boyce. The always right Andre Pleuss gives the audience a sound scheme of economy and thought. The dialect work of the cast was stellar; dialect coach Eva Breneman earns kudos here, too. And always Mr. Friel, watching like a voice in one’s ear, making sure that the attempt to change the world through its languages gets a full and proper examination. So graceful, and so telling, in the results.

RONALD KEATON received an Equity Jeff Award for the performance of his one-man show CHURCHILL. www.solochicagotheatre.com  Coming soon, his new solo play “Echo Holler.” www.echoholler.com

PHOTO | Michael Brosilow

Writers Theater
presents
Translations
325 Tudor Court
Glencoe, IL
through May 4

WEBSITE

PROGRAM

For more reviews, visit: Theatre In Chicago

ARCHIVE

PicksInSix® is a registered trademark of Roxbury Road Creative, LLC